The analyst principally responsible for the production of this research report is: Howard Humphreys, Director & Lead Research Analyst, Seismic Research

ASX bucks regional drop on RBA, Easter return

Asian markets posted broad losses today on a soft lead from Wall Street after a report released overnight showed that U.S. manufacturing growth slowed in March. The local market bucked the regional trend today as trading resumed after the Easter break and the Aussie dollar edged higher against most peers after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept its benchmark rate on hold, in-line with forecasts. According to Macquarie the RBA's statement was "almost identical to the one released in March."

In its minutes, the RBA said it expects global economic growth "to be a little below average for a time". Domestically, the RBA used the same old statement that growth is "likely to be a little below trend over the coming year". Interestingly, and potentially highlighting the RBA's cautious outlook, the RBA refrained from mentioning recent positive domestic data, notably February's record 71,500 increase in jobs. The RBA did, however, say that previous cuts are having an "expansionary effect", but highlighted its willingness to cut rates, if needed.